Society unravels without kindness

We live in very dangerous times. However, haven't people always known this throughout history? Currently, as in the recent and long past (yes, it's all relative), what a person says, how they say it, when they say it and to whom and why they say it inevitably will lead to numerous impressions upon those who hear or read. Then of course people — some perhaps more than others — will react.

These days on the Prairies, in particular when it has been unbearably hot, I can imagine how many people are impacted such that they end up speaking too soon about something or holding off while still thinking about a matter. There are many potential variations on the theme.

As I've sat at the computer watching the daily arrival of innumerable news stories, it makes me think on the one hand of all those bouncing bingo balls inside of a machine — all pushed around by the force of air. So many stories coming into the fray of people's lives. Births, deaths, stories of destruction, ridiculous interactions between and among some people.

At the end of her comments on the CBC national news recently, Sandra Masters, our new mayor, in commenting on a story related to the recent reopening of the province, gave a prominent nod to kindness. At the end of a very hot day, I would think that a character like Snoopy in the cartoon Peanuts would bask with delight in the waters of kindness. Yes, we all need it. We don't always experience it when we need to, but it is never very far away. How sad its absence and how glorious its companionship.

With no kindness there is no civility, and without civility, society borders on decay. We are its guarantors. How awesome, eh?

Karenanne Joy Krofchek, Regina